Reversible chair



Jan. 20, 1970 M. P PUTNAM 3,490,310

REVERSIBLE CHAIR Filed Feb. 19, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I I 1/ I v A a-75131512191! Jan. 20, 1970 M. P. PUTNAM REVERSIBLE CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 19, 1968 United States Patent O US. Cl. 297-454 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An armchair has a rigid frame structure which includes seat, back, and side supports. A reversible upholstered cushion unit is removable supported on the frame and includes seat, back, and two arm cushion members joined together. The upholstered cushion unit is manually reversible while the cushion members remain joined, to contraposition the sides of each cushion member.

BACKGROUND The invention pertains generally to chairs and the like, and more particularly to chairs of the type having upholstered seat, back, and arm cushions.

The term chair is applied to articles of seating furniture having a seat, back, and legs or other substructure. Many chairs are upholstered, that is, they include material used to cushion and cover at least a portion thereof. While upholstered chairs are usually fine articles of furniture, the upholstery material eventually wears and requires replacement. Once the upholstery cover is selected, it is not usually possible to change the decor of the chair short of reupholstering, applying a slip cover, or the like. Additionally, with some fabrics, cleaning may be a problem.

SUMMARY The present invention relates generally to chairs and the like and more particularly to a chair having a reversible upholstery cushion unit including seat, back, and arm cushion members.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a new and useful chair having a reversible upholstery cushion unit.

Another object is to provide a chair, in accordance with the foregoing object, in which the upholstery cushion unit has a seat, back, and arm cushion members joined together as a unit.

Still another object is to provide a chair, in accordance with the foregoing, in which the upholstery cushion unit is reversible while the cushion members remain joined, to contraposition the sides of each unit.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and useful chair having a reversible upholstery cushion unit which includes a seat, back, and arm cushion members, and wherein the arm cushion members provide an edge support for the seat and back cushion members.

These, together with other objects and advantages of the present invention, will become apparent as the invention becomes better understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DRAWING unit of the chair shown in FIG. 1 and showing said unit in the process of being manually reversed;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a pattern for the upholstery cover material utilized in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5;

FIGS. 7 and 8, respectively, are front and side views of an alternate frame construction;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a pattern for the upholstery cover material utilized in the embodiment of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings which illustrate the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention and wherein similar reference characters indicate the same parts throughout the several views.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-6, the article of seating furniture, hereinafter called a chair, includes a generally rigid frame structure 12 and an upholstered cushion unit 14. The frame structure 12 includes a plurality of legs 21- 24 which are interconnected by crosspieces 26 and 27, as best shown in FIG. 3. Webbing 28 extends between the crosspieces 26 and 27 and cooperates therewith to provide a seat support portion of the frame. The rear legs 21 and 24 are each provided with an integral extension 31, inclined rearwardly slightly at the desired angle of the back support of the frame. The extensions 31 are interconnected by back crosspieces 32 and 33 which provide a back support portion of the frame structure. As shown, the legs at each side of the frame structure merge into a side rail 35. A side support is provided at each side of the frame structure and, in the embodiment illustrated, includes upwardly extending support members 36 and 37 attached to their respective side rail 35 and extending upwardly therefrom. It will hereafter become apparent that various types or designs of frame structures may be utilized in the present invention; however, the frame structure preferably provides a seat support, a back support, and left and right side supports.

The reversible upholstery cushion unit 14, shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-6, includes a seat cushion member 41, a back cushion member 42, a left arm cushion member 43, and a right arm cushion member 44. As can be seen, the seat cushion member 41 is engaged with the seat support and includes an inner layer of cushion material 51, which is advantageously a piece of foam rubber. At the upper and lower sides of the cushion material 51 are first and second upholstery cover materials 52 and 53, respectively. The pieces of upholstery cover material 52 and 53 extend beyond the edges of the cushion material 51 and are joined together at a seam line intermediate the sides of the cushion material. The seam line may take the form of stitching, heat sealing, or other fastening means dependent upon the type of upholstery material, ec nomic considerations, and the like.

In a similar manner, the back cushion member 42 includes an inner layer of cushion material 61 which is also conveniently a piece of foam rubber. Likewise, the layer of cushion material 61 is covered by first and second layers of upholstery cover material 62 and 63, respectively. Layers 62 and 63 also extend beyond the edges of the cushion material 61 and are advantageously joined together intermediate the sides of the cushion material. At the lower edge of the back cushion member 42, pieces 62 and 63 are joined or secured to the rear edge of seat cushion member 41. This is advantageously accomplished by a seam line 65 which is common to both the seat and back cushion members (see FIG. 2).

Similarly, left arm cushion member 43 includes a layer of cushion material 71, which is advantageously shredded foam rubber. It, too, is provided with first and second upholstery cover materials 72 and 73 which are joined together intermediate the sides of the cushion material 71. Left arm cushion member 43 is joined to seat cushion member 41 by a common seam line 75, as best shown in FIG. 3. Likewise, left arm cushion member 43 is joined to back cushion member 42 by a common seam line 76, as best seen in FIG. 4. Right arm cushion member 44 is similarly constructed and similarly joined to the seat and back cushion members.

The arm cushion members 43 and 44, being connected to the seat and back cushion members 41 and 42, serves to interconnect the seat and back. Thus, should an occupant slide forward on the seat cushion member 41, it tends to remain in place because of the support from the interconnection. To best provide this support, the arm cushion members 43 and 44 preferably extend upwardly at least to an imaginary line extending from adjacent the top edge of the back cushion member 42 to the front edge of the seat cushion member 41. This imaginary line is shown at 78 in FIG. 2. In this manner, the seat, back, and arm cushion members provide a generally A- frame structural interconnection.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is illustrated a pattern which may be used for the upholstery cover material. Two identical size and shaped pieces of upholstery cover material are utilized, one adjacent the supporting surfaces, previously described, and the other at the opposite side of the cushion member and adjacent the occupant of the chair. As shown, a plurality of miters 81-86 are provided to accommodate the thickness of cushion material and for good tailoring. Large notches or cuts 87 and 88 are provided in the arm portions. These cuts define edges 87a, 87b, 88a and 8817, as shown. When the respec tive edges 87a and 87b are joined, along with joining edges 88a and 88b, the back is caused to raise. Thus, the angle of cuts 87 and 88 will direct the pitch of the back cushion member to the seat cushion member, If desired, the upholstered cushion unit may have piping 89 (see FIG. 1) at the outer extremities of the cushion unit to provide a neat finish. By utilizing two different types of upholstery cover material in the pattern of FIG. 6, interesting results can be obtained. For example, by utilizing a pattern material and a solid material, dilferent decor is emphasized, depending on which side of the reversible upholstery cushion unit is exposed to the occupant. Additionally, should the occupant side become slightly soiled, the unit can be reversed. It is deemed obvious that, by providing two surfaces, the unit 14 provides twice the wear of an ordinary upholstered chair.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is illustrated the manner in which the upholstery cushion unit 14 may be manually reversed from the position illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 and described above. As shown, the unit 14 is removed from the frame support 12, and reversed by pushing inwardly on the unit adjacent the seam line between the seat and back cushion members. The flexibility of the cover materials and the resiliency of the cushion materials permits the amount of flexing necessary to accomplish this result. In this manner, the upholstery material adjacent the frame structure is reversed to the position nearer the occupant and vice versa. It will be noted that the location of the seam lines 65, 75 and 75' (see FIG. 6) is approximately midway between the sides of the seat cushion member 41. This provides an identical relationship between the member 41 and the other members, regardless of which of the two reversible positions the unit 14 is at. From the sectional views (FIGS. 2-4) it can be seen that the layers of cushion material are compressed slightly at the edges adjacent these seam lines and on the side adjacent the occupant. This provides a tight, upholstered effect. The seam lines also provide a hinge when the unit 14 is reversed, and said midway location of the seams is the preferred location there for. By reversing the unit 14 in the manner described, the

homemaker can easily present a new surface, should the occupant surface be soiled or should she wish to change the decor, assuming two different cover materials are utilized. It is also possible to have the seat and back cushion members 41 and 42 of substantially the same size so that their positions may be reversed. In this manher, the chair illustrated in FIG. 1 can be made to have a generally wing-back design by reversing the respective positions of the seat and back cushion members.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, there is illustrated another frame structure which may be utilized with the upholstery cushion unit 14 previously described. This frame structure is of a generally modernistic design and has slightly bowed side supports 93 and 94 joined to a front crosspiece 96 and rising upwardly therefrom to a slightly bowed back support piece 97. Because of the structural interconnection between the aforedescribed cushion members, the single back support member 97 will provide sufiicient support for the back cushion member. Of course, webbing (not shown) or the like can be pro vided if desired. Thus, it is deemed obvious that the present invention is not limited to any particular frame construction, so long as it provides a seat support, a back support, and means for restraining lateral movement of the upholstered cushion unit as, for example, side supports 93 and 94.

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the chair of this embodiment includes a frame structure 112 and an upholstered cushion unit 114. In general, this embodiment may be described as a barrel-back type chair and, for this purpose, the frame structure includes a generally arcuate member 115 which extends upwardly from adjacent the front legs 122 and 123 and across the back of the chair in a smooth curve. Member 115 may be visualized as a more sharply curved embodiment of members 93, 94, and 97 of the frame structure shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In this manner, member 115 provides both a back support and side supports for the upholstered cushion 114. The seat support may be provided by webbing or the like in the usual manner.

The upholstered cushion unit 114 includes a seat cushion member 141 similar to seat cushion member 41, previously described. The major difference is that the rear edge of seat cushion member 141 is curved in the manner of the barrel-back to aid in supplying the form for the unit. The upholstered cushion unit 114 includes a back cushion member 142 and left and right arm cushion units 143 and 144, respectively. In this embodiment, there need not be a distinct seam line between the arm and back cushion members. In other words, the back and arm cushion members are generally unitary and flow together in a gentle are. A simplified pattern for a barrel-back reversible cushion unit is illustrated in FIG. 10. As shown, the pattern provides an upholstery cover material 152 for the seat cushion member and an upholstery cover material 153 for the back and arm cushion members. Line 155 designates the seam line between the back and the seat cushion members, which seam line is preferably intermediate the sides of the seat cushion member. Large cuts 157 and 158 are provided by this pattern and define edges 157a and 158a at the sides of the seat portion and edges 157b and 158k at the bottom of the arm portions. When the adjacent edges 157a and 15712 are joined along with edges 158a and 158b, the back raises to its usual position. The angle of cuts 157 and 158 will direct the pitch of the back cushion member to the seat cushion member. It is deemed obvious that the upholstery cover material need not be made from a single piece unless so desired. As described above, two identical pieces conforming to the pattern are utilized, one for each side of the unit.

What is claimed is:

1. An armchair comprising:

a frame structure including a seat support, a back support, and left and right side supports extending to a level above the seat support; and a reversible upholstered cushion unit removably supported on the frame structure and including a seat cushion member having a first side and a second side engaged with the seat support; a back cushion member having a.first side and a second side engaged with the back support; left and right arm cushion members each having a first side and a second side engaged with the respective side support, said arm cushion members being permanently secured to the back cushion member; said cushion members each including a layer of cushion material, a first sheet of upholstery material on the first side thereof, and a second sheet of upholstery material on the second side thereof and engaged with the respective support; means for permanently securing the seat cushion member to the back cushion member and to the arm cushion members along a line approximately midway between the sides of the seat cushion member, and also approximately midway between the sides of the seat and arm cushion members; and the upholstered cushion unit being removable from the frame structure and manually reversible in its entirety while the cushion members remain permanently secured to each other to reverse the positions of the first and second sides so that the first sides are engageable with their respective supports.

2. An armchair as set forth in claim 1 wherein the first side of the arm cushion members and the back cushion member comprises a first single piece of upholstery cover material, the second side of the arm cushion members and the back cushion members comprises a second single piece of upholstery cover material of generally identical size and shape as the first place, and means for joining said first and second pieces along their peripheries.

3. An armchair as set forth in claim 1 including means for securing each arm cushion member to the back cushion member along lines approximately midway between the sides of the back cushion member and also approximately midway between the sides of the arm cushion members.

4. An armchair as set forth in claim 3 wherein the back cushion member has an upper edge and the seat cushion member has a front edge, and wherein the arm cushion members extend outwardly and upwardly at least to an imaginary line interconnecting said upper and front edges to provide a generally A-frame structural interconnection.

5. A reversible upholstered cushion unit for use with a frame structure including a seat support, a back support and means for restraining the upholstered cushion member from lateral movement; the reversible upholstered cushion unit comprising:

a seat cushion member having top and bottom sides, front, rear and side edges, and including a layer of cushion material, a first sheet of upholstery material at the top side, a second sheet of upholstery material at the bottom side, said first and second sheets extending beyond the cushion material and being joined together at least at said rear and side edges along a seam line approximately midway of the thickness of the layer of cushion material;

a back cushion member joined to the rear edge of the seat cushion member at said seam line;

left and right arm cushion members each joined to the back cushion member and to the respective side edge of the seat cushion member at said seam line;

said arm and back cushion members each including a layer of cushion material, a first sheet of upholstery material on th side thereof adjacent the seat cushion member, and a second sheet of upholstery material on the opposite side thereof; and

the upholstered cushion unit being manually reversible in its entirety while said members remain joined to each other to reverse the positions of the first and second sheets of upholstery material so that the second sheet of the seat cushion member is at its top side and the second sheet of the arm and back members is on the side thereof adjacent the seat cushion member.

6. A reversible upholstered cushion unit as set forth in claim 5 wherein the back and arm cushion members each has a lower edge, their first and second sheets of upholstery material extending beyond the cushion material at said lower edge and being joined together along a lower seam line intermediate the sides of said back and arm cushion members, and said lower seam line being generally coincident with at least a portion of said seam line of the seat cushion member.

7. A reversible upholstered cushion unit as set forth in claim 6 wherein the rear edge of the seat cushion memher is arcuate, the arm cushion members are generally integral with the back cushion member, and the arcuate rear edge of the seat cushion member imparts a generally arcuate shape to the back cushion member thereby forming a barrel-back upholstered cushion unit.

8. A reversible upholstered cushion unit as set forth in claim 6 wherein: the rear edge of the seat cushion member is generally straight, the back cushion member has lateral edges, each arm cushion member has a rear edge adjacent the respective lateral edge of the back cushion member, and the first and second sheets of upholstery material of the back cushion member are joined together along a seam line at each lateral edge and to the respective sheets of upholstery material of the adjacent arm cushion member.

9. In a chair including a frame structure having a seat support, a back support, and left and right side supports extending to a level above the seat support, the improvement comprising:

a reversible upholstered cushion unit removably supported on the frame structure and including a seat cushion member having a top side and a bottom side engaged with the seat support, and having front, rear and lateral edges;

a back cushion member having a front side and a rear side engaged with the back support, and having top, bottom and lateral edges, the back cushion member having its bottom edge permanently joined to the rear edge of the seat support along generally the full length of the rear edge;

left and right arm cushion members each having an inner side and an outer side engaged with the respective side supports, each arm cushion member having edges permanently joined to the respective lateral edges of the seat and back cushion members along generally the full length of the lateral edges, each arm cushion member in its entirety extending outwardly at least to an imaginary line from adjacent the top edge of the back cushion member to adjacent the front edge of the seat cushion member to provide a generally A-frame structural interconnection and support the lateral edges of the seat and back cushion members;

said cushion members each including a layer of cushion material, a first sheet of upholstery ma terial on the side thereof engaged with the respective support, and a second sheet of upholstery material on the opposite side thereof; and

the upholstered cushion unit being removable from the frame structure and reversible in its entirety while the cushion members remain per- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1958 Smilow et al. 297-418 11/1962 Coursey 5-338 8 3,093,407 6/1963 Wilson 297 460 X 3,205,010 9/1965 Schick 297458 X 3,323,151 6/1967 Lerman 297-452 X CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

